3 Recipes to Help You Give the ‘Pongal’ a Mouth-Watering Twist!

Ponga in Tamil means to ‘boil over.’ One of the most popular harvest festivals celebrated in South India, ‘Pongal’ derives its name from this very tradition of cooking the newly harvested rice until it overflows from an earthen pot.

This dish is ‘Sarkkarai Pongal.’

Ponga in Tamil means to ‘boil over.’ One of the most popular harvest festivals celebrated in South India, ‘Pongal’ derives its name from this very tradition of cooking the newly harvested rice until it overflows from an earthen pot.

Relished across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Sri Lanka, Pongal is cooked using various methods and ingredients.

The traditional Chakkara or Sakkarai Pongal, which is commonly offered as prasadam in temples and cooked in Tamil households, is made of rice, coconut and moong dal and sweetened with jaggery, to give it its quintessential brown colour.

Another variant, Venn Pongal, is made from clarified butter and is typically served as a special breakfast in South India and parts of Sri Lanka with sambar and coconut chutney.

Also, Melagu Pongal, a spicy variant, is made with pepper, rice and moong daal. Meanwhile, Puli Pongal, which usually isn’t associated with the festival, is made with tamarind and boiled rice and is often served for dinner.

But this Pongal, you can give this classic traditional dish your twist with some of these easy-to-make recipes:

Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker, add moong dal and roast for 1 min. Add it to the Kodo millet and mix well. Add water, and 1 cup milk and pressure cook it at least for two whistles, simmer for five mins and turn off the heat. Let the steam go all by itself.

Now take the content in a nonstick pan, add in ½ cup milk, jaggery, cocoa powder and mix well. Keep mixing until it thickens.

Now add ghee little by little and mix well.

Heat some ghee in a pan, fry cashews and raisins till golden and add it to the Pongal.